It seems like such a short time ago when I graduated from college in Mississippi and set out for Texas to pursue my dreams and my career.  The year was 1981 and the country was in a deep recession.  Interest rates for home mortgages were around thirteen percent, but Houston was boom town USA.  Business was robust in Houston even with the high interest rates (oil prices were high).  I accepted an entry level management position with a large homebuilder and was thrilled with my new $18,000 yearly salary.

My first assignment was in the warranty service department.  The community I was assigned to had been without a warranty representative for a few months, so I was greeted angrily by the first several dozen homeowners I met.  Memories of this experience have remained with me throughout my career and have given me a special understanding and empathy for our homeowners and the importance of after sale warranty service.

After five interesting and challenging years working my way up the corporate ladder (at the age of 27), I decided to follow my lifelong dream of becoming an entrepreneur.  It may be hard to imagine, but we weren’t a country of entrepreneurs in 1986.  Most of my family and friends thought it foolish to walk away from such a lucrative and promising career.  Everyone I knew at the time had a job, not a business.  But my father had planted a small seed, a simple idea, many years before when I was a child.  “Own your own business, be your own boss”, he’d say.  So, I had to chase this idea of building a business, creating a unique product, producing something of value for my family, my customers and my community.

Well…the business was a success.  Not right away, it took a few years to get rolling.  But in the years since, I’ve helped to enhance the lives of a few thousand Texas families.  Products that I designed and built have found success in all four major cities in Texas.  I like to think of the families we build new homes for -- bringing home their first child and setting up a nursery in that special bedroom -- opening gifts around the tree in the family room and carving that Thanksgiving turkey in the kitchen that I helped to create.  Helping families and making life a little better is what Michael David Homes is all about for me.

As I write these words, our country is once again in a painful recession.  People are suffering right now in a way that I’ve not seen before.  In spite of these difficulties, I am hopeful.  Hopeful for our country and for our future prosperity and happiness.  I believe deeply in America and I believe that brighter days are ahead.

Best Regards,